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Gov't vows to to ensure bullet trains run on schedule
July-17-2011

China's railway authorities are to rearrange summer transportation on Beijing-Shanghai high speed railway, saying efforts will be made to ensure trains arrive and leave on schedule.

According to Sunday's The Beijing News, the Ministry of Railways is working to increase Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway's passenger carrying capacity as it is the most popular choice for travellers, said the newspaper.

The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway has carried an average of 165,000 passengers each day from July 1 to 13, with highest daily transportation volume of 197,000 people, according to Wang Yongping, spokesman with the ministry.

Wang apologized on Thursday for delays on the newly-built railway over the last five days during an online chat hosted by people.com.cn, the online arm of China's People's Daily.

The 1,318-km Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway went into operation on June 30. The train trip between the two cities takes less than five hours.

The country's railways have carried a total of 83.848 million passengers since July 1, the beginning of this year's summer transportation. The figure represents a 14.7 percent increase from a year earlier, The Beijing News reported on Sunday.